Monday, May 26

Shepherdsville, Kentucky

Today we decided to tour the Perryville Battlefield, the largest Civil War battle in Kentucky. It was approximately a 60 mile trip to the town of Perryville. A beautiful drive through the rolling hills and ravines of the Kentucky country side. We first stopped in the town of Bardstown, very old town but it didn't seem like much was open so we continued to Perryville. Several of the buildings in Perryville are from the Civil war era and the Mayor is a direct descendant of one the property owners where the battle took place. I won't get into the history of the battle, but there were over 7500 men/boys killed or wounded in this battle. It was a very violent battle, one surviving soldier said the ravine ran red with blood another said the hand to hand combat was so violent that footing was slippery because of so much blood. Can you just imagine the field day our present day press would have with a battle like this. Carol and I spent most of the day walking the different battlefield and skirmish lines with a map from the information office. The beauty of the hills, grassy fields, trees and flowers are overshadowed by the quietness and ere stillness of the battlefield. As Carol and I walked among the fields and up the hills I noticed and made mention to Carol that wherever there had been a large loss of life, a hillside, a ravine, a hilltop there was a large growth of wild white daisies. I asked the attendant at the office, who was a local historian on the battle, about the daises, she said they just grow wild.
After we left the battlefield we found the Jim Beam distillery. It was late in the day so we'll return tomorrow. We returned to the RV park it's about empty compared to what it was when we arrived.
Tomorrow we plan on going to the Jim Beam distillery and the Kentucky Derby museum.

Memorial for the Confederate soldiers that fell at Perryville

The Union soldiers memorial

At this point(ridge) confederate artillery lob shells to the ridge beyond the trees that had union artillery shooting back and down in the ravine. Down in the ravine were confederate soldiers trying to take the ridge. They eventually did but with considerable loss.
The ravine and some of the old fencing. Some of the small stone walls built by troops were still up.
The opposing ridge with the Union artillery. Union infantry were on this ridge and in a cornfield to the left of this picture. Noticed all the white daisies in the ravine and coming up the hillside.

the bouquets of daisies scattered the hillsides and ravines has if marking the sight of a fallen soldier.

The picket fence in the bottom of the ravine

Another field that was a corn field where the union infantry from Wisconsin was over run and almost wiped out by confederate infantry. Notice the daisies.

Starkweather's Hill, a strategic location where union forces fell back to.

Another battle site at Perryville. Donelson's advance, confederate troops were ambushed by union artillery and infantry from the ridge on the left and another on the right(not in picture). This is where a surviving soldier said the ravine ran red with blood.